We rode into Champaign yesterday, covering 87 miles from Springfield. Fairly uneventful ride. Champ rode strong today because this is his home turf. (He grew up in Champaign and now lives not too far away). So not only was he eager to get to the hotel and see his guests, but the specificity of training really shows up on tours like this. People that are used to a certain type of terrain really excel in their specialty. (Folks are still waiting to see my specialty, I think). Perhaps I have shown strength in the short "city" rides to find the chooclate milk at the end of the rides. The other day I stuffed numerous bottles into my jersey pockets to bring back to the team -- I was compared to the domestiques of the Tour De France!
On our way into town, we stopped at a nice bike shop so they could get a preview of Ira's bike that they would be working on during our rest day. When they saw Harry's bike (a Look), they were saying it is the most expensive bike they have seen; the funny part was that it took them a while to figure that out since it is covered with the stuffed dog on the handlebars, the plastic aquarium under the seat wedge, extra spokes strapped on the frame, etc. Clever way to prevent bike theft, we figure -- cover it in junk!
Champaign is the site of our fourth rest day. It was great to have Champ's knowledge of the area; he showed a group of us to a great local bar last night; one of only two "neighborhood" bars in town. Since the pub is right in with the residential area, they close at 11 pm which is probably a good thing for this group.
This was also the day we were given an assignment to decorate our helmets for the next day's ride. For some of us, this of course extended into decorating the bikes also. I went for a "princess" theme, which should be pretty funny to anyone who knows me.
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